Bulgarian wine production increases as producer numbers grow

Bulgaria’s wine production is on the up, with 263 more wine producers than last year, and 19 new wine cellars currently under construction.  

This is according to the Food and Agriculture minister Desislava Taneva, who said that plantings were also on the increase, with an additional 680 hectares being expected to be given over to vines this year.  

“Regardless of all difficulties which the Bulgarian producer faces, a trend of increase should be reported, and that should make us happy,” the Minister Minister  said.  

With around 63,000 hectares of vineyards in Bulgaria, the total harvest in 2014 was 132,731 tonnes, down 59% from the previous year because of inclement weather.

The majority of grapes planted are of the red variety, with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon dominating.  

There are 33 local grape varieties, 22 red and 22 white, with the most planted local red grape variety being Pamid. Dimyat is the most planted local white variety.  

Meanwhile, the most familiar local grape varieties in the wine world are Mavrud, Rubin and the Melnik varieties from the reds; and Dimyat and the different Misket varietals from the whites.  

As for exports, Bulgaria shipped 43,269,000 litres of wine in 2014, of which 68% was destined for the EU.

85% of total exports were bottled wine, and the remaining 15% was comprised of bulk wine.  

Poland accounted for the lion’s share of Bulgaria’s exports, followed by Romania, the UK, the Czech Republic and France.  

Domestic consumption was 11.9 litres per capita, from which 10.39 litres was the consumption of local wines.  

There are five wine regions in Bulgaria, 52 Protected Designation of Origin, and two Protected Geographical Indication.

The largest producing area, accounting for more than 40% of all production is the Thracian Valley, followed by the Danubian Plain (21.3%), the Black Sea coast (19.11%), the Struma Valley (14.6%) and the Rose Valley (4%).